Sunday, 13 July 2014

A
MAN OF "PROFOUND DISSIMULATION": THE TRICKS OF POPE SIXTUS V.

Never had a person
more craftily concealed his ambition than Cardinal Montalto (later Sixtus V). He combined a proud
mind with profound dissimulation. At
the conclave he smothered his vivacity
of spirit and became an example of
dull and blockish stupidity. He counterfeited so many diseases and infirmities
of old age that it seemed he was
stooping into his grave.

The
other cardinals thought they had found the ideal candidate, a pope after their own heart, whom they
could easily control. They began to
reckon amongst themselves the great advantages they should make of a silly old
coxcomb.

A
vote was held, and as soon as Montalto saw that he had the needed majority, he leaped out of his seat, threw away his
staff that had hitherto supported him instead of a crutch and began to stretch
so that he appeared half as big again as he was before.

At
the mass celebrating his elevation to the papacy, he roared out the Te Deum with a thundering voice. When Farnese
heard him, he said: I perceive we have
gotten a Pope who will make fools and asses of us.

The
next day Montalto, now Sixtus V, gave a splendid banquet. Seeing the pope stir about busily, one of the cardinals commented: Your Holiness did not seem to have so much
strength yesterday. The Pope smartly took him up and said: Yesterday I was not
pope, today I am.

(Source:
Anonymous pamphlet entitled The Intrigues
of the Conclave at the Choosing of

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About Me

I was born in Vienna and obtained a doctorate from the University of Toronto. I am the author of more than a dozen non-fiction books (social history, biography, translation), three novels (Playing Naomi, 2009, Head Games,2013, and The Effects of Isolation on the Brain, forthcoming) as well as a novella, Unspeakable (download from smashwords). I divide my time between Toronto and Los Angeles, and have lived in villages in Argentina, Romania, and Bulgaria. Want to know more about me? Follow me on Twitter @historycracks. Visit my website:
http://www.erikarummel.com/